Chapter 2- Celebration to Assassination
It would have ruined a perfect day if it had snowed but fortunately not. At the crack of dawn Ming got up, dressed in her nicest pink dress and tied her hair up with her lucky white, pink tipped ribbon. The sunlight slanted through the window making a pattern on the floor. Chen got up and stretched noticing that Fu was still fast and decided to wake him up. Kneeling down next to his bed with a thumb and a forefinger pinched his nose holding it there. Thrashing like a fish out of water Fu fell out of bed tangled in the grey blanket and bed sheets.
"Ok I'm up no need to wake the dead as well." Fu spluttered, rubbing his leg absently.
"You can sleep through anything." Chen joked as he pulled out his good formal white clothing. It didn't seem like any villager to dress and act formal except for special occasions and festivals.
"I hate dressing up so fancy and proper" Fu complained as he played with his food. His dress style was scruffy, messy and with a few holes like someone who lived in the wild.
"This tastes so good, your the best" Ming commented happily.
"Quality and quantity is what I strive to achieve" he said with a smile.
The food was all fresh by Grandpa Zhenyu and Cong had woken up just to get the ingredients to make breakfast. Not only was he a wonderful cook but a swordsman as well. He was reputed to have the best biscuits in the province which consisted of a sweet bean curd filling covered with sesame seeds. The Emperor requested that he made a batch for the nights feast. Looking around the table Chen saw that they were wearing their best clothes.
Coming from a borderline middle/lower class family they could only afford so much. Ming only wore makeup on special days and festivals and this was no exception. Lei looked quite stern and dressed in a pitch-black robes. Cong had to be careful not to get his clothes dirty the last thing anyone wanted was a big soup stain which saturated right through. After eating and cleaning up they went to get a good spot for the parade.
Fu and Ming were chasing each other while Chen lagged behind. He was walking while looking at the ground until bumping into someone which disrupted his train of thought.
"Sorry," Chen apologised but the person had already gone. "That's funny did I just bump into someone?"
"Come on hurry up or there's going to be a big crowd!" Ming shouted from up ahead.
Hearing him Chen picked up the pace and caught up with them. They stood outside a house, which was close to an inn. That was where the emperor, the ambassador and his group were staying. Cong said people began to line the streets awaiting the arrival. Everyone was dressed so nicely it seemed that they were all rich but that was opposite for most. Drums sounding like thunder could be heard from the start of the street signalling the start. The noise was coming closer as people cheered and waved. Female dancers whirled past,
Fu jumped up down in what looked like excitement but being short all he could see was people's backs. Lei seeing that pulled him up to the front where he could now see across and down the street. Yeh thanked him then turned to look at what was coming. Women in decorated silk dresses walked down carrying baskets. As they walked they threw peony petals around which was meant to have some kind of traditional meaning. Then it was followed by two horse driven open top carriages inside were the visitors.
A hairpiece fell out of Ming's bun seeing that Chen bent down to find it. The main attraction went by slowly however when he found the jade pin it had already passed.
"Oh you have my hairpiece" Ming looked surprised.
"It fell out here you go" Chen handed the pale green piece back to her.
"Thank you, hey you missed seeing the Japanese ambassador and his group" Ming said, as she put the hairpiece back into place. "There's about five people in there we might seem them again."
"Well I may see them later then" Chen said briskly.
As the mini parade wound to a close the large crowd began to celebrate the day by dancing, eating and doing other festive things. The eateries were soon full of customers, which was good for business. Noodles, soups and hot dishes were all available today and at a little more expensive. Because of high demand and people didn't want to spend their time cooking. They decided to eat at a local place, it was noisy and packed but a table just became free so they sat.
"I'm so hungry" Cong groaned as his stomach rumbled.
"Your always hungry" Fu laughed and ducked a swipe from the taller boy.
"Remember to meet me back at the Zhan Inn for the performance" Grandpa Zhenyu said.
For the rest of the day Chen, Lei, Ming, Fu and Cong were out playing and walking the streets. The atmosphere was lively as people chatted, laughed and sang. As the sun started to set they made their way to the large inn. The festive spirit didn't seemed to die even though they were in the company of their Emperor.
"I love performances. Wonder if it's going to be an opera or play? " Ming sighed and began to picture it.
"It's like extra special because the important people are there," Fu said excitedly.
"Were going to be staying for dinner and the performance" Lei told his friends.
"The sun is starting to set so let's go to the Zhan Inn" Chen looked at the skies, which were ablaze with colour.
Arriving at the inn they met up with Grandpa Zhenyu who was sitting at a table. They were seated in a much closer proximity to the special guests than first thought. Cong might have choked on a fish ball, if not for Fu's vigorous thumping between his shoulder blades. The other three drank tea instead of eating anything.
"Careful about what I said," Lei teased. "You might eat yourself to death one day."
The others laughed but Cong seemed to just shrug it away. "I'm willing to take that chance."
A play was about to start and everyone got settled down to watch. There were four people on the stage dressed up in costumes wearing heavy makeup, except two, which wore masks. Chen did not really enjoy plays or operas he preferred something with action with fighting and all. He was completely bored but he took close attention to one performer who stood very close to the front as he said his lines. Suddenly he pulled something out a crossbow with an arrow ready to launch. This definitely wasn't in the play but the audience did not notice having that notion of 'expect the unexpected'.
Chen noticed that the weapon was aimed directly at the Ambassador's son with dead accuracy. He jumped onto the table and made a dash for the blue haired boy who still watched on. Chen pushed him out of the way just before the arrow landed in the backing of the chair. The crowd started to dissolve into panic and confusion as guards made their way to the table. The assassins made their quick escape through an open window, which was situated behind the stage. It was only then was it apparent that there was more than one person involved.
Chen landed on top of the boy and their eyes locked. The two gazed at each other and blushed but the Chinese boy was pulled off by a guard and pushed back into the crowd.
"Let's get out of here," Lei said as he grabbed Chen's arm.
Everyone was forced to leave and return to their homes as they tired to retain order and find the perpetrators. No one could have ever anticipated such a daring assassination attempt. It was surprising that Emperor Xiang would have little concerns about any attack, which lulled him into a false sense of security. The question was why not kill the Emperor of China but go after the Japanese Ambassador's son?
To badly hurt and damage the countries relation? Or as some kind of warning for far worse things to come. However no one knew the depths of the assassins sinister plans or how far they would go.
Returning to their home safely Grandpa Zhenyu and Lei went round locking each door and window.
"Are you ok Chen?" Cong asked and checked for injuries of any sort.
"Chen" Grandpa Bao prodded firmly when he didn't reply.
"I'm fine" Chen answered snapping his attention back them.
"What if they stole our stuff?" Ming said hysterically.
"Why would they steal our meagre possessions?" Lei rebutted the question.
"Enough excitement for one night now off to bed" Grandpa Zhenyu ordered in a tone which brooked no discussion.
For the rest of that night the entire village was on a lock down no one was to enter or leave under any circumstances. Guards took up positions around the village and the inn they prepared for anything. As the tensions mounted Chen did not sleep easy nor did anyone else that was there at the inn. In the morning a meeting would be called where everyone would attend and those who weren't accounted for at the inn were potential suspects.
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I got a question from someone about the Chinese names and why I chose them. They came from the top of my head I wanted to keep it simple anyway. I aim to write a chapter a week around my schedule even I would like to see how this fic unravels.